Composite plate



E. EJNovoTNY. coMPos'nE PLATE.

l r l APPLICATION FILED DEC. 30, 1916. 1,377,508, Patented May 10, 1921.

of full tone.

UNITEDv STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EMIL E. NOVO'IN'Y, 0F RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO J. STOGDELL STOKES,`OF

IOORESTOWN, NEW'JERSEY.

COMPOSITE PLATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May to, 192i.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, EMIL E. Novo'rNY, a

citizen of the United States, residing at` blank form so that he may readily, economically and conveniently prepare his own matrices and plates by an exceedingly sim ple method, involving heat and pressure apv plied through the agency of an ordinary press, thus obviating the expense and delay incident to having his printing plates made at an Aoutside establishment making a specialty of such work.

Furthermore, it is my object to provide a composite sheet of this character which will possess the desired characteristics of strength, toughness, durability and which is practically unchangeable when made up in the form of a matrix, or a printing plate, so that when used as a matrix the type produced therefromv will possess sharply defined, clear cut type faces, while when made up in the form of a printing plate the resulting printing will appear uniform and With the above recited objects and others of a similar nature in view my invention consists in the improved composite sheet, set forth in and falling within the scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a cross sectional view taken throu h a preferred form of composite sheet embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a view showing the use of a press in the making of a matrix from the composite sheet shown in Fig. 1'.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken through the complete matrix.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectionalV view taken through a printing plate made with the composite sheet of Fig. 1.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1 to 11 inclusive, in the practice of my invention I first select a layer or sheet of fibrous spongy absorbent material, such as' heavy blotting paper, which is indicated by the numeral 1, and this blotting paper l saturate or impregnate with a solution of a synthetic resin such as a phenolic condensation product or phenolic material in its liquid form of which there are several well known grades and varieties, such as liquid bakelite and condensite. The blotting paper readily absorbs this liquid phenolic material which is shown at 2 and when a suicient amount of the phenolic liquid has been incorporated or absorbed by the paper, a facing sheet or layer preferably of thin copper or copper foil, shown at 3, is imposed upon the saturated paper sheet and the two sheets are then subJected to suiiicient heat and pressure to bring the phenolic liquid to its intermediate stage where it is of no longer liquid form, but possesses a certain degree of plasticity and elasticity. In some cases a binder may be necessary to insure the adherence of the facing sheet 3 to the saturated paper sheet, and in such instancesany suitable form of binding material or varnish, such as a phenolic varnish, over which may be sprinkled or dusted wood flour or the like may be employed to bind the layers or sheets together.

When the composite sheet consisting of the backing layer of the phenolic saturated blotting or absorbing paper, and the facing sheet, is prepared as above described, it is ready for use in making the matrices and plates, and may be furnished to the printer, who may make suchmatrices or plates directly from his own type forms. rll`his may be done by an exceedingly simple method. For instance, an ordinary form of press is indicated as an entirety by the letter P and comprises in the present instance the bed section 5 and the top platen section 6. andl 'these two press sections are preferably arranged so as to be heated and cooled as may be desired as by fluid inlet pipes, I, and fluid rial. A-sheet, such as is shown in Fig. 1, is now placed upon the body of type with the facing sheet 3 in contact with the type faces and the press is closed and heat and pressure applied to produce in the face sheet 3 type formed depressions which are coinplementary to the type faces of the type body T. Heat is maintained on the press for a sulicient length of time, say for from one to five minutes, to allow' the matrix to set to a less plastic state, but not sufficiently to prevent the flexing or bending of the sheet when removed from the press, as it may in some instances be desired to curve the sheet to form a curved matrix, as may be readily done by rolling or bending the sheet about a suitable. mandrel when warm. However, if a fiat plate is tobe made from the matrix, the latter is permitted to harden and cool in the press, and may then be removed therefrom when it will have the appearance shown in Fig. 3. This matrix may then be placed in any ordinary casting box and a plate cast therefrom, the type faces of the plate of course being identical with those of the type body, but will have well rounded, nonprinting portions and sharp-ly defined printing faces. If desired, the composite sheet shown in Fig. 1 may be used for making the printing plate itself, and in this instance the composite sheet is placed with the facing 3 downward against the molding face of the matrix shown in Fig. 3 and heat and pressure applied in the casting box so that the plate when hardened and set will have the appearance shown in Fig. 4, where the plate is indicated by the numeral 8, the printing face thereof being indicated by the numeral 3. Such a compositel plate naturally possesses certain manifest advantages from the standpoints of convenience, ease of manipulation and inexpensiveness in the production of matrices.

What I claim is l. A composite sheet comprising an absorbent body having incorporated therein a resinous condensation product capable of assuming a state of plasticity and of assuming a hard and set condition under heat and pressure, and a facing sheet of metal united with said body.

2. A composite sheet comprising a fibrous body having incorporated therein a phenolic condensation product capable of assuming a state of plasticity and of assuming a hard and set condition under heat and pressure, and a metallic facing sheet imposed upon said fibrous body. v

3. A composite sheet comprising an absorbent body impregnated with a synthetic resin capable of assuming a state of plasticity, and of assuming a hard and set condition under heat and pressure, and a facing sheet of metal united therewith, said facing sheet being provided with depressions and elevations. p

4c. A composite sheet comprising a liber sheet impregnated with a synthetic resin capable of assuming a state of plasticity and of assuming a hard and set condition under heat and pressure, and a non-fibrous facing sheet imposed upon the impregnated fiber sheet.

5. A composite sheet comprising a fiber sheet impregnated with a synthetic resin capable of assuming a state of plasticity, and of assuming a hard and set condition under heat and pressure, and a non-fibrous facing sheet imposed upon the fiber sheet and having elevations and depressions formed thereon.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

EMIL E. NOVOTNY.

printing plates and 

